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Max Beauvoir

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The story of how Max G. Beauvoir came to practice the religion of his ancestors has been repeated widely since the report of his death earlier this week. Having returned to his native Haiti to apply his skills as a biochemist and to learn about the healing herbs used in that country, Beauvoir was called out by his dying grandfather as the one who would carry on the family tradition as a houngan. While Beauvoir was reportedly confused by the pronouncement, he took the directive quite seriously, using his polished manner to become an ambassador of Vodou to people both inside Haiti’s borders and beyond.

Haitian Vodou initiate and blogger Lilith Dorsey never met Beauvoir, but was quite familiar with his work. The fact that he wasn’t particularly interested in the religion growing up didn’t come as a surprise to her. “In his generation, they were told that it was bad, and in order to be progressive, to get ahead, you had to put away the old backwoods ways,” Dorsey said.

Vodou was not recognized as a religion in that country until 2003, and Beauvoir’s advocacy had a lot to do with that. Dorsey described the Temple of Yehwe, which Beauvoir established in Washington, D.C., as “one of the few open and authentic temples in the U.S. You can call them up, go there, walk in.”

Beauvoir attended college in France and the United States, and his scientific background made it easier for him to put a “nicey-nice face” on Vodou, Dorsey believes, because his Western education gave him credibility many practitioners do not have in mostly white societies. His establishment of a Vodou temple in the United States capital, however, was more an act of survival than ambassadorship. In 1986, Beauvoir fled Haiti after the ousting of Jean-Claude Duvalier. Duvalier’s father had recruited houngans for his secret police, called Tontons Macoutes. When the family fell from power, there was backlash against the priests.

At the time, Beauvoir told the Orlando-Sentinelthat more than 1,500 Vodou practitioners were killed. However, other sources put that number as low as one hundred. That period of unrest eventually eased, and Beauvoir returned to a home, which he then converted into a temple. He provided rituals for paying tourists, which was seen as controversial in some quarters, and made him the subject of a critical book by journalist Amy Wilentz.

Max G. Beauvoir [Courtesy Photo]

With his training in biochemistry, Beauvoir worked toward a scientific understanding of the various herbs and plants used by houngans in their practice. He argued that the priests, who vastly outnumber western-trained doctors in Haiti, should be formally relied upon as part of the country’s health-care system. He also consulted with ethnographer Wade Davis, who wrote The Serpent and the Rainbow as a result of research into the process of making zombies in the Vodou tradition. Unfortunately, that nonfiction account was turned into a movie in 1988 by director Wes Craven, and is credited with reigniting the zombie craze in America. That may have been good for fans of flesh-eating undead, but it did nothing to improve how Vodou is portrayed in Hollywood.

Beauvoir was an outspoken critic of those kinds of misperceptions about Vodou, and his open practices were intended to shed light on a religion that is so often represented as a primitive combination of zombie-creation, animal sacrifice, and sticking pins into dolls. Even the spelling of the religion can be contentious: acceptable are “Vodoun” and “Vodou,” while “voodoo” is generally viewed as derogatory. An obituary of Beauvoir at NBC places “voodoo” in quotes. The media outlet did this to call attention to the fact that this better-known spelling is incorrect, and then it used “Vodou” for the remainder of the piece. Clearly, someone was listening to what Beauvoir had to say.

Nevertheless, his legacy is mixed. While he worked to be an ambassador, Dorsey added, “It’s hard not to associate him as someone who sold out.” His links to the Duvaliers and support of their multi-generational regime also taint his work in the eyes of some Haitians, such as Michel Nau, who wrote this comment on the Huffington Post obituary:

It’s not true when Beauvoir said: “Voodoo is the soul of the Haitian people and nothing can be done without that cultural basis.” I am from Haiti, and I don’t consider Voodoo as my soul, and part of my culture, and I have been doing a lot without it. Another voodoo propaganda when he said: “In 1987, many Voodoo practitioners who were killed by the Christians in the chaos that broke out after Dictator Jean-Claude ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier fled Haiti.” This has nothing to do with Christianity, or being Christians. These voodooists who were killed were Tonton Macoutes and henchmen of the Duvalier regime.

”Just as a carnival band went by the house, grandfather, a voodoo priest turned to me and said, ‘You will carry on the tradition,'” It was not the sort of thing you could refuse. Beauvoir told. Just like his father and grandfather served Papa Doc Duvalier, after returning home in the 1970s, Beauvoir became adviser to the Baby Doc Duvalier.

Even with those criticisms, it seems clear that Beauvoir was a consistent champion for his religion. Dorsey points to a letter he wrote to Senator Jesse Helms in 1999, after the firebrand politician dismissed aid programs to Haiti as “amounting to witchcraft.” Vodou remains a minority religion that can be referred to in a derogatory fashion, such as in the phrase “voodoo economics,” and it was that mindset that Beauvoir fought against.

When the largely independent houngans of Haiti decided to create a central structure in 2008, they selected Beauvoir as its Ati, or supreme leader. This was perhaps more thanks to his ability to counter such bias than his skill as a priest himself. By embracing two societies, Beauvoir was more able to counter bias toward a religion often dismissed as primitive.

Vodou Alar [Photo Credit: Calvin Hennick / Wikimedia]

“It’s ghetto and dirty otherwise,” said Dorsey. “He had a voice that was easily understandable,” and he didn’t “sound like a Haitian.” This ability, for example, allowed Beauvoir to be heard when he was countering allegations that the 2010 cholera outbreak was caused by black magic; the disease was later determined to have been introduced by United Nations relief workers from Nepal. And, his unique voice allowed him to be heard when speaking out against the widespread belief in the 1980s that all Haitians had AIDS.

Not everything Beauvoir did was seen in a positive light, but his legacy is largely one of lifting up his religion and his country in a world that mostly dismisses both.

Vodoun Priest and Supreme head Max G. Beauvoir died Saturday at the age of 79. Born in 1936, Beauvoir studied chemistry in both the U.S. and France, and eventually pursued a successful career as a biochemist. He worked at Cornell Medical Center, Tufts University as well as other private research institutions. According to a Washington Postarticle, Beauvoir was not initially interested in religion at all. However, he was called back to his home and to Vodou by his dying grandfather, who told him in 1973, “You will carry on the tradition.” He couldn’t refuse.

Beauvoir left his research and commercial career to become “the public face of Haitian Vodou.” In 1974, he founded Le Péristyle de Mariani, his first temple. Over the next few decades, he continued to lead, build community, and speak out publicly in support of his tradition. Beauvoir helped to establish a number of organizations, including the National Confederation of Haitian Vodou. In 2006, Beauvoir was named the Supreme Chief or “L’Ati Nationale.”

According to AP, Beauvoir died after a long illness, no other details are publicly known. In a tweet, Haiti’s president Michel Martelly has said, “Mes sympathies à la famille et aux proches de l’Ati national Max Beauvoir … Une grande perte pour le pays.” [Translation: “My sympathies to the family and those close to the National Ati Max Beauvoir … A great loss for the country.”] Beauvoir’s supporters and followers have taken to social media to share their stories and express their grief. What is remembered, lives!

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In other world news, the Parliament of the World Religions (PWR) is now only one month away. People from all over the globe will be descending on Salt Lake City for potentially once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Wild Hunt will be there along with many other Pagan and Heathen organizations. In addition, we are preparing a pre-Parliament article that will highlight the Pagan, Heathen and Polytheist representation over that October weekend.

To do that, we’ve been talking with EarthSpirit’s co-founder Andras Corban-Arthen, who serves on PWR’s Council and is considered one of the “voices of the movement.” In our discussions, he recently informed us that the Council will be welcoming a brand new chair at the upcoming Salt Lake event. Professor Robert Sellers, a Baptist Minister from Texas, has been elected to the position.

Corban-Arthen said, “I have to admit that when Rob first joined our Board of Trustees some years ago, I wondered how well a Baptist professor of theology from the heart of Texas would fit in an organization as liberal, and as open to religious diversity, as the Parliament of the World’s Religions. But Rob turned out to be one of the nicest, most open-hearted and open-minded people I’ve met in a long time … He’s precisely the kind of leader the Parliament needs at this juncture: someone who is a big thinker, a careful and respectful listener, and a great team builder … I think our religious communities and traditions, as well as other minority religions, will find a good friend in Rob Sellers. I very much look forward to continue working with him in his new capacity as our Chair.”

Also recently announced, Jane Goodall will be addressing the attendees as the keynote speaker. According to a press release, Goodall will be speaking on two main topics: War, Violence & Hate Speech and Climate Change.

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To update a local story that we covered in August, Druid Cindy McGinley is still fighting the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. As we previously reported, McGinley has been caring for two deer, Deirdre and Lily, who cannot be re-released into the wild. McGinley is a registered wildlife rehabilitator and typically rescues animals with the intent of re-introducing to their natural habitat. However, after caring for Deidre and Lily, she determined that these does would not survive in the wild. The DEC is attempting to force her to either release or kill the pair of deer.

In an update, McGinley said, “I think oral argument went well for us, but the judge did not render his decision today. He wants time to consider. The DEC, for their part, is trying to paint me as a criminal who willfully broke the law and so am ‘unfit’ to have a LCPEE.” She said that local media has been at her door, asking for interviews and looks at the deer. She remains hopeful, but the campaign continues. The Save Deirdre and Lily Facebook page offers ways to help the cause.

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T. Thorn Coyle [Courtesy Photo]

Over the weekend, there was another big announcement from blogging world. T. Thorn Coyle is preparing to return to writing. Over the years, Coyle and her inspirational words developed quite a following. Then, in March, she announced that she would be taking a leave of absence to focus her energy on other work.

On Friday, Coyle published a post reading, “I’m ready to come back to this blog, but in a different way.My five year plan is to continue ramping way back on public teaching and hopefully shift toward making a living writing.” To help launch her career, Coyle has set up a Patreon account, on which supporters can help fund her writing. She has already reached the first goal of funding one essay and one short story per month.

Coyle noted in the announcement, “The leave has been good for me, allowing me to continue studying fiction and planning out two novel series. I’m also slowly working on a long-form essay.” Her first set of works will be published on her blog in October.

In Other News

The new Druid College UK will host its grand opening on Oct. 3-4 in a “a lovely retreat house venue in Essex.” According to the announcement, Joanna van der Hoeven said, “Druid College is dedicated to Earth-centred spirituality, to the integrity of our natural home, and to the crafting of sacred relationship. Twinned with its American sister college, the three-year programme begins with the basics of Druidry and moves on to crafting the wild soul, establishing a deep connection to the rhythms of life around us, finding out how we can be of service to the land, the ancestors and the gods …” There are only a few spots left in the first year program.

The Maetreum of Cybele was recently interviewed on Radio Survivor about their new station (WLPB) and the upcoming Grassroots Radio Conference. As we previously reported, the Maetreum of Cybele has just launched a low-power, local FM radio station in its small hamlet of Palenville, New York. In addition, the organization is playing host to the Grassroots Radio Conference, which is a national conference of community based, low power FM radio station owners and operators and staff. You can listen to the interview here:

Gods & Radicals is going to print. The popular blog is taking its work into paper form. The announcement said, “twice-yearly print collection of smart, dream-soaked words collected against the horror of Capitalism and toward the beauty of the world thereafter.” To initially fund the project, editors launched a GoFundMe campaign and, in only 6 days, raised 3x their goal amount. The journal is due out around Samhain.

For those interested in “Hillfolks’ Hoodoo” and Appalachian folk magic, writer and teacher Byron Ballard has finished her long awaited second-book in that series. Titled Asfidity and Mad-Stones, the new book will continue the conversation on the unique magical experience originating from the southern Appalachian region. It is a conversation that Ballard began in her first book Staubs and Ditchwater. To keep readers updated on its progress, she has launched a facebook page and is currently taking pre-orders. Asfidity and Mad-Stones is due out in October.

“Out of the rubble has risen a Phoenix of compassion and hard work. Artists in Saint Croix U.S. Virgin Islands banded together and held an action to benefit the community and 100% for Haiti was born. Over the last 20 months much has improved. We have constructed a school of ply wood, purchased tables, hired teachers, built facilities, provided meals to the children and even have began to insure the kids get some medical attention. All accomplished with a pluralistic humanitarian intent.”

“In my early teens, in the aftermath of migration and bombarded with narrow and negative views of Haiti, I vividly recall deciding to go back there only when the political situation changed. I ended up pursuing a degree in anthropology for the same reason and in the process became too cognizant of the ways Vodou, as an African-based cultural heritage, was under siege. By the time I made my first return, missionaries proliferated and provided social services neglected by the compromised and combative state. Conversion to Protestantism was de rigueur. We were not immune.

My family’s connection to the spirits, which was always tenuous, had practically disappeared as various parcels of land had been sold off and were now inhabited by strangers or newcomers to Port-au-Prince.The diasporic ties that bind continued to fray. No one cared as the stigma had taken hold. This was most evident in the neglected peristyle or temple that was once revered as sacred space where community gathered. When a cousin boldly stated “bagay sa yo pa a la mode ankò” (or “such things are no longer in style”), he was echoing a broader sentiment. Many among the young see serving as old fashioned. The spiritual uprooting of the last three decades was exacerbated by the devastating earthquake nearly two years ago that also fractured so many temples. That was a sign of things to come. Ours eventually crumbled as the last of the stalwarts converted.”

To get a look at Haiti’s thriving art scene, that first afternoon, photographer Ron Haviv and I turn up at a downtown art community, which is hosting its Second “Ghetto Biennial.” In its confines, a good bit of the art is under-laid in a sort of vestigial nod to West Africa by an undercurrent of animal-sacrifice religion of voodoo. It is a religion practiced by few, yet known (and feared) by many. And it makes for some striking art. The Ghetto Biennial is a high-energy visit. People are moving everywhere. Out front are tall, black-painted, angular metal sculptures with actual human skulls, also painted black, attached to their tops. “Yes, those are real,” says a man watching the sculptures when I experimentally tap one of the skulls with my index finger. “The artist gets them because his atelier is over near the graveyard.”

Haitian Vodou, like Haiti itself, seems to be at a crossroads. More and more people outside of Haiti are drawn to Vodou, but the faith faces grave challenges both structural and spiritual. As Haiti’s slow reconstruction moves forward, will Vodou manage to thrive in its home, or will it be changed irrevocably by the pressures of this chaotic time? There are no easy answers, but those of us invested in Haiti, Haitian culture, and Haitian Vodou, must remain vigilant to their ongoing struggles and challenges. Haiti must not be lost down the memory hole as new tragedies or events spring up.

Vodou leaders were also members, giving what came to be called the Militia of National Security Volunteers (known as MVSN, for its French acronym) an almost-religious aura. Opponents were killed in the night and their bodies were often placed on public display. “The Duvaliers are estimated to have ordered the deaths of between twenty and thirty thousand Haitian civilians,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement this week.

Employing vodou leaders and illiterate peasants was integral to the Duvalier’s method of overseeing the torture and murder of political opponents and robbed public funds, biographer Elizabeth Abbott writes in Foreign Policy. “Duvalier’s genius lay in how he designed their hierarchical structure, chose their (usually humble) social origins, and included priests (voodoon and Christian) and rural section chiefs who ruled their fiefdoms with iron fists and reported personally to him any subversive activity or even thought.”

“Voodoo and politics have long been intertwined in Haiti, with some past leaders reaching out to voodooists as a way of burnishing their populist credentials. Beauvoir has himself been linked with François Duvalier, or Baby Doc, the dictator who fled the country in 1986 after a popular uprising against him. And Beauvoir opposed Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s rule, becoming a hated figure among loyalists of the former Catholic priest.”

“Now, with Duvalier once again seeking to become a public figure in Haiti, he is working to rebuild his public image in the eyes of both Haitians and the international community. In order to do this, he has enlisted the help of numerous U.S. attorneys, including none other than former Libertarian Party presidential candidate and Clinton impeachment champion former Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA). Barr will serve as the former dictator’s “voice to the world,” and he told CNN that he plans to bring Duvalier’s “message of hope to the world“ […] One has to wonder how Barr — who ran for president in 2008 to “deliver a refreshing message of liberty” — can reconcile his supposed right-libertarian beliefs with being on the payroll of a notorious autocrat who shut down elections and the free press and tortured nonviolent dissidents.”

“… if I were in the Air Force and was being commanded by an officer who practices hedonism as a religion (another part of the definition of “pagan”), and who dances around a circle of stones in the woods carrying a lighted candle, I would be more than a little worried about following him into battle.”

So it seems that Pagans serving in (and receiving fair accommodation from) the United States military is something he doesn’t like, but acting as an ambassador for an ousted ruler who happily employed practitioners of Vodou in a paramilitary organization that terrorized Haiti is just fine. As for the well-documented crimes against humanity and his country perpetrated by Duvalier, they are, according to Barr, mere “allegations.”

Barr, who represented Georgia’s 7th District from 1995 to 2003, and was the Libertarian Party’s 2008 presidential nominee, said Saturday that the allegations against Duvalier are just that. “I deal with allegations all the time,” he said. “They are the cheapest commodity on the market.”

“Haitian-American filmmaker Michele Stephenson traveled to Haiti on behalf of the National Black Programming Consortium to capture the struggles of Haitians a year after the devastating Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake. This clip, from a documentary by Stephenson, is one of several that will run on The Root this week in collaboration with the NBPC. The multimedia project, entitled Haiti: One Day, One Destiny, will include other documentaries, blogs and several live Web discussions. You can reach the NBPC site at blackpublicmedia.com.”

Officials counted 40 people killed – mostly voodoo priests – killed in one region of Haiti, the AFP news agency reported, with five others killed elsewhere. “The victims… were stoned or hacked with machetes before being burned in the streets,” communications ministry official Moise Fritz Evens said. Haiti’s communications minister said she abhorred the killings and insisted that the answer was to improve general education about how cholera is transmitted. “Voodoo practitioners have nothing to do with the cholera epidemic. We must press for an awareness campaign about the disease in the communities.”

“My call is to the authorities so they can assume their responsibilities,” said Beauvoir, who fears more attacks against voodoo devotees. Most of the lynchings occurred in the southwest of Haiti but also in the center and the north. […] Beauvoir said he suspected that representatives of some other religions might be stirring up popular fears against voodoo practitioners using the cholera as a pretext. “I saw this coming. Since the earthquake some people have been blaming us, saying that we cast spells and did evil things which brought the earthquake as a punishment,” he said.

“The kind of religion one practices makes a huge difference in how the community lives — for better or for worse. I suppose it’s at least arguable that the Haitians would be better off at the Church of Christopher Hitchens rather than as followers of voodoo.“ – Rod Dreher, Beliefnet

“Instead of enabling the millions of small Haitian farmers to become food self-sufficient by growing rice, millet, corn and a variety of fruits and vegetables, however, [U.N. envoy Bill] Clinton has announced that Coca-Cola will be running a project to use Haitian fields to grow mangoes for a new drink. In the last six months, a number of industrial parks have been built by foreign corporations to take advantage of Haiti’s $3-a-day minimum wage. The “new Haiti” after the earthquake is not much different from the old Haiti the United States has been attempting to bring forth for two centuries: a place governed by business-oriented Haitian technocrats who take their marching orders from Washington.”

“She needs Erzulie Dantor’s help, she said. As she spoke of her wish, a crowd began to gather a few feet away. A female worshiper was calling Erzulie, hoping to invoke her presence. “The spirit that is here in the yard, come and grant me my chance,” the woman sang. “Erzulie Freda bring me luck. If there is a spirit in the yard, I will name its name and adore it.” As she sang, the pitch of her voice began to crack. She seemed to be in a trance, her lithe body falling onto the rocks. As others watched — now believing that Erzulie had possessed her — revelers rushed to her side, whispering their demands in her ears, sure they were speaking to the goddess.”

Haiti is in a perilous situation. The massive tent cities are at the mercy of the weather should a hurricane hit the already-struggling country. Lawlessness and rampant sexual violence are an ongoing problem, and the country could easily collapse politically. If the birthplace of Haitian Vodou with its rich culture of arts and music is to continue, it is imperative that we don’t allow it to fall off our radar. It isn’t so much a question of donations now (though you can still do that), but of making sure those who hold the purse-strings chart the country on a course of renewal and self-sufficiency. To make sure the first priority are the people of Haiti, not the profits of outside interests. While I know we face our own problems at home, I hope we don’t lose sight of Haiti, especially at this crucial moment in history.

“I’m flattered and grateful they think I’m that caliber of a candidate,” Halloran said. “But right now I’m worried about running the district. I just came off a cycle in a bitter election, so I’m not ready to run another race.”

“I’ll sit down and talk to [local party leaders], but I’m not inclined to run … I haven’t ruled it out, but Gary Ackerman has tremendous financial and political resources. My big picture right now is the state of the city and that our district gets its fair share of money.”

So if Ackerman should experience a scandal, or a big drop in popularity, he might change his mind (but then, so might a lot of other people). In the meantime, I think it’s smart of Halloran to demure from attempting to jump from City Councilman to Congressman so quickly, it shows that he’s thinking about the long-term future, and his constituents.

“Max Beauvoir is a Houngan. He is the head of a secular organization of Vodouisats called KNVA, of which most Vodouisants are NOT members. He keeps making these power grabs, he thinks if he proclaims himself the “head of Vodou” enough times, people might believe him. He is a sexual predator. He takes money from people with AIDS, when he knows he can’t cure them. I don’t think highly of him … It is courageous of him to speak out against violence against Vodouisants, even though it was cowardly of him to threaten Haitian President Rene Preval with “death wanga” a year or so ago when Max was not given the post on the Electoral Council that he wanted. And it is idiotic and inflammatory for him to call for “open war”, instead of “self-defense”. He’s a real mixed bag, and I think we need to recognize that he is a man like any other man, not a god, not the “Pope of Vodou”, not the head of all Vodouisants in Haiti, but a man.”

So if his power base is so small, as Mambo Racine hints, why does he get so much attention? Partially it comes from his willingness to seek out reporters and talk to them, but it also come from the status accorded to him by the New York Times, who dubbed him “Vodou’s Pope” and the “supreme master” of Haitian Vodou. There’s nothing a busy reporter likes more than a centralized leader who can speak for a whole faith or class of people. Interestingly, both Racine and Beauvoir, in their own ways, are outsiders who converted to Haitian Vodou and now hold positions of authority. Their non-Vodou pasts, willingness to self-promote, and familiarity with Western media, may go a long way towards explaining how they became two of the most well-known Vodou practitioners in North America.

“My favorite blogger, Just Another Snarky Navy Wife, is based in Monterey, Calif. After bitching about TriCare, the military insurance system, which “sucks the balls of hairiness” because it declined to pay for her anesthesia during a gum graft, she writes about the difficulty of living a double life. “It’s hard being a liberal Pagan milspouse,” she confesses. Like many of these bloggers, she prefers to stay anonymous for her husband’s sake: In this case, “He’s shouldering enough just being a liberal service member with a penchant for logical thought in socio-political discussions.” But her problem, in a nutshell, is that members of the nondenominational, otherwise open-minded church she joined to find community off the base are giving her the stink eye for being married to the military. She wants to tell the hippies who founded the church that she has more in common with them than they think, but she’s furious with them for judging her harshly based on the fact that her husband is a service member.”

“If Dale Halferty, the Guthrie Center teacher who banned his student from creating a Wiccan altar in shop class, actually believes his own words, that “this witchcraft stuff… is terrible for our kids. It takes kids away from what they know, and leads them to a dark and violent life,” then Halferty should not be a teacher.”

“They showed up at Cheetahs, a local strip club, to tell people they were going to hell … They told the manager, who is a mother of 3 that she is going to hell and they used their PA system and mega-phone to tell people going into the business. The Amarillo cops were called, but they did nothing.”

Such brave Christian soldiers. You have to wonder how many of them were, or are, patrons of that same establishment when they aren’t busy protesting it. I wish the locals every bit of luck in fighting this disturbing group, and will continue to monitor their activities here at this blog.

In the day-to-day nature of Internet news, it’s often difficult to keep track of stories as they develop. So here’s a round-up of follow-ups, updates, and recent developments in stories previously reported here at The Wild Hunt.

“The article in Iceland Review is somewhat slanted, as the TV interview cited was based on the assumption that we had ritually cursed named members of the British and the Dutch governments. The ritual in question was a protective one ( with the subtext that those who would try to harm our nation would be exempt from the protection / sanctuary ) and its intent was to push aggression back to where it belongs. However some people observing the ensuing developments have given us credit for all sorts of things including Gordon Brown’s unstable temper, the freak winter in Britain, and the troubles befalling and in the end collapsing the Dutch government.

I did own up to writing a scathing poem about Gordon Brown in the time honoured tradition of “níðvísa” and I am sure that long after his name is forgotten on the British Isles there will be Icelanders dancing on his grave and and finding inventive and practical ways of pouring / spraying ale upon it.”

So there you are, not so much a “curse” as protection working that is successfully pushing aggression back to its source. Carron is currently arranging an interview with Hilmar Hilmarsson for Ravencast, and I’ll keep you posted as to when that’s available.

“Thank you for your continued support of Airmen who request religious accommodation. Airmen who are allowed to practice their First Amendment rights to freedom of religion are generally more spiritually fit and better able to handle the rigors and stressors that come with deployments and a high OPSTEMPO (Operations Tempo) … Wiccans and other followers of Earth-based religions will observe Ostara, the spring equinox, on 21 March followed by Beltane, a celebration of the abundance of the fertile Earth, on 1 May.”

So it looks like the Air Force really is taking the inclusion and accommodation of Pagan airmen to heart. I’d love to know if any of the other US Armed Forces have released similar memos. If they have, please feel free to drop me a line so I can share them with my readers.

“Mixed reactions arose since Hudson was recognized as a chaplain. Hudson herself has only received positive feedback, but there has been an online backlash in comments sections of articles about Hudson’s appointment. Other chaplains said it is too early to make a judgment about whether they agree with Hudson’s appointment … Hudson said she has seen the negative comments in online articles about her appointment, including one that suggested she eats bats. Some others said her appointment will make SU look unattractive to potential students. But that was to be expected, Hudson said.”

Eats bats? Really? As the article points out, it’s still early days, and we have no idea how well Hudson will perform in her role, or if she’ll encounter any real resistance to her chaplaincy. What is important at this stage is that the needs of Pagan students are being acknowledged and respected, and that feedback from that community has been positive.

“I find it fascinating that the first article begins with a call to war by Beauvoir while the second article has him saying he hopes it doesn’t come to war. I’m not saying that both quotes aren’t accurate but it kind of reminds you how much power a reporter has in shaping a story.”

“The frustrating thing is that we have no real way of telling exactly how important or influential Beauvoir is among Vodou practitioners in Haiti. There’s a number of reasons for this, an important one being the lack of probing and analysis that followed after Beauvoir was first put forward as the “supreme chief” of Haitian Vodou (and, as Mollie mentioned, was called a “pope”).

However, two things are clear that all journalists covering Vodou in Haiti should know. One is that Vodou is, by its nature, a decentralized faith. It is largely organized around different “families” of initiates. No matter how large Beauvoir’s coalition may be, he simply cannot speak for the entirety of Haitian Vodou. The second is that thanks to the reporting so far, Beauvoir’s title has become prophecy. His willingness to interact with the press, to become the spokesman, has cemented his place as the go-to person for the “Vodou voice”. No doubt many families will rally to him in these uncertain times, and he may very well become, for a time, something close to the central figure the press portrays him as.

The lesson here is that journalistic assumptions about religion can shape religions, especially in times of crisis and trouble. Reporters like having a singular go-to leader when discussing a faith, it makes info-gathering and quote-seeking far easier. But minority faiths are very often different from the Protestant denominations or Catholic churches they are used to covering, and they often lack a clear leadership structure (or they have a clear leadership structure, but not one that applies across the board). The best policy is to always seek out multiple voices when dealing with a decentralized faith, and to always take claims of supremacy within a decentralized faith with a grain of salt.”

We all need to do a better job of covering religion in Haiti. Trying to assemble a clear picture from the assorted claims, incidents, and reports is difficult, and we run the risk of giving an incorrect, or even harmful, analysis of current events. If I error, and I probably will considering the trickle of good information, I hope it’s in favor of preserving and respecting Haiti’s indigenous faith traditions.

“Like all our sections, HuffPost Religion will bring you the latest news — in this case about all things religion-related — served up in the HuffPost style. It will also be home to an open and fearless dialogue about all the ways religion affects both our personal and our public lives. And it will do so in a way that moves beyond the pigeonhole depictions of both the faithful and the agnostic we see so frequently — and also beyond the tired assumption that God is a card-carrying member of one political party or another.

HuffPost Religion is being edited by Paul Raushenbush, an Associate Dean of Religious Life at Princeton University and an ordained Baptist minister. As a passionate and brilliant religious thinker, pastor, writer and college dean, Paul is ideally suited to the challenge of presenting multiple viewpoints and insights, as well as the real-world implications of religion for American life.”

“Organized by T. Thorn Coyle, this panel features Weiser authors T. Thorn Coyle, Diana Paxson, Zee Budapest, Orion Foxwood, and Lon Milo DuQuette. Discussion spans our definitions of ourselves as Earth- based, Nature-Based, Cosmos-based, etc. and addresses some of the problems of our times as well as positive media influences such as the movie Avatar.”

I briefly covered (and live-tweeted) this panel in my Pantheacon coverage, so I’m glad to see the audio for it released. While the panel didn’t really dig too deep into the question of how “earth-based” modern Pagan traditions really are, there were some fascinating and insightful things said and discussed, and I highly recommend checking it out.

“He allegedly repeated his claims to a Ugandan police officer and has been charged with “giving false information to a public officer”. He denied the charges and was remanded in custody in Lira Central Prison. Police officer Godwin Tumugumye, an officer at Lira Police Station, said BBC correspondent Tim Whewell is also wanted by the police over the case, reports Uganda’s New Vision newspaper.”

“It will be war, open war,” Max Beauvoir, supreme head of Haitian voodoo, said at his home and temple outside the capital. “It’s unfortunate that at this moment where everybody’s suffering that they have to go to war. But if that is what they need, I think that is what they’ll get.”

“Humanity doesn’t want us to be separated,” said the Rev. Frantz-Michel Grandoit, a Catholic priest. Grandoit has planned several interfaith prayer vigils with Voodoo priests, including a three-day national prayer for rebuilding, held earlier this month and sponsored by the Global Network of Religions for Children, an international nongovernmental organization. In a ceremony at the Croix-des-Bouquets temple earlier this month, priestesses and parishioners knelt at the base of a tree trunk, lighted candles and solemnly chanted prayers for the earthquake’s victims and for the future of their country. “Hold Haiti’s sweet hand!” they sang as they threw water on the tree trunk and conjured up what is known as the Veve, a mystical symbol embodying the Voodoo deities. “Save us! Give us grace and deliverance!”

So while Max Beauvoir is an important voice right now in post-earthquake Haiti, we must remember, despite his claims, that Vodou has no “supreme chief” that all Vodouisants, Mambos, and Houngans bow before. Beauvoir leads a faction, a group of practitioners who have acknowledged him as their leader, and is not a Vodou “pope”. Reporters must move beyond Beauvoir, and talk to many practitioners from different areas to get a fuller picture of religious interactions in Haiti. To be sure there are those how want a religious war, but I would say there are also many who want a sense of national unity to trump theological differences at this critical stage.

“Pagan groups are increasingly asking for human remains and grave goods from pre-Christian burials to be returned to the ground, and their voices are being taken increasingly seriously in the museum world.”

As I’ve said before on this site, there is no consensus among British Pagans on this issue, with many, most notably Pagans for Archeology, opposed to the reburial of ancient human remains. It would have been nice for the BBC to get more perspectives on this, rather than simply portraying HAD and Orr as representative of Pagan stances on this issue.